[PF2] Menace Under Otari (GM Watery Soup, Table 2) (Inactive)

Game Master Watery Soup

Discuss.

Hi! I've got a lot of character ideas, but I'd like to try and do something that complements the group. From the recruitment thread it looks like we're getting a wizard, and some kind of roguish sort of an uncertain class. Maybe a ranged weapon user or a tank would be helpful?

This was my attempt at running a Wizard Idea for Pathfinder Society.

Dailyn Syrah was what I came up with, an Elf who aspired to join the Grand Archive of the Pathfinder Society. An archeologist at heart, he takes a lot of inspiration from the Indiana Jones and Mummy series of movies.

I am hoping to polish off his equipment here soon but my linked character sheet should have the basic elements so far.

Dailyn is good at multiple Lore skills that deal with Archeology, the Underworld, and Pathfinder society, and focuses on Abjuration (magic can be troublesome).

Despite what it may seem, Dailyn also is good at disarming entry level locks and traps!

First, thanks for the invite, two tables thank you!!

Dailyn gets dibs on wizard, I was going with a kobold wizard but....I can really see going with a bard.

So, I am posting with this wizard alias, but am considering switching to a gnome bard that is a tinker/artificer at heart.

Thanks GM Watery Soup, we will be Table 2 by name but quickly become first in your heart!!

So sounds like Dailyn and I want to be squishy!! May need some beef. Hoping to be Dialyn's bookish buddy that tinkers with gadgets somewhat and the party face with oratory and massive diplomacy skills.

Dailyn gets dibs on wizard, I was going with a kobold wizard but....I can really see going with a bard...

MOOORE WIZARDZ! Though seriously, Wizard or Bard can go either way. I'm going abjuration wizard which kind of is the buff type of wizard anyway. Toss in Thievery and I can mix with rogue to some extent. I'm basically a big nerd who uses magic to make artifacts "safe" so if you have another Wizard idea I'm sure we could find a way to make it work.

That and bard is fun too.

Either way, I wasn't expecting to get in, but really appreciate the opportunity... and enough interest for a second table even! Can't wait to see how this all turns out! Really excited to play with you all!

This was my attempt at running a Wizard Idea for Pathfinder Society.

Do note that, although this will be run for Pathfinder Society credit, the characters do not need to be PFS-legal. This means two things.

1. If you would like, you can use some Uncommon ancestries and heritages you wouldn't otherwise get to play. Some use the opportunity to try characters that would take a while to build in PFS. (Just so nobody feels pressure for not doing it, I don't either. lol)

2. Your character name gets locked after 10 posts. If you want to create an alias to use for this game so you don't lock in your PFS character's name until you need to, go to My Account -> Manage Account -> Create New Alias. You can then post with the alias for the duration of the campaign, and save your PFS name.

Regarding party composition, feel free to optimize as long as you have fun doing so.

If it gets to a point where people feel like they can't play the characters they want to play, please stop optimizing.

The scenario is run in Adventure Mode, which affords me the flexibility to modify the encounters as I see fit. If everyone wants to play a wizard, I will gladly modify the encounters so that a five-wizard party will not only survive, but have fun. If everyone thinks healing is boring, the magical healing rabbit will visit after every combat, pooping out healing potions like crazy, because if you didn't know, that's how healing potions are made.

I will date myself, but I remember being one of five hobbit thieves running through the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh in AD&D and doing quite well. Your final take after each session significantly depended on your pickpocket rolls made every five minutes.

Abjurer and bard together makes me think support is more than taken care of. Maybe I'll play a magus for damage dealing.

I will date myself

Me too. But only because no one else will.

Okay, I was gonna come in here and claim rogue, but now I'm seriously digging the all-wizard party.

I mean, we're gonna die, but I've never done the all-wizard party. Whaddya think?

All wizard party, no two from the same specialty as many generalists as desired, I'm in

Abjurer and now diviner

If a magus comes he is the default tank.

Respectfully request all treasure drops swap armor, martial weapons, and other silly things for scrolls, cool pointy hats, wands, orbs, and other wizardly things.

Fibek is naturally the best wizard as everyone knows that elves are the best at magic. Fibek will call the healing rabbit Fluffy.

And it is now cannon, any non redundant school wizard by definition complements the group as wizards are the best class in any RPG.

Don't hold back on your opinion, man. Let it out.

-If- we're all down with this plan, I'll go for Illusionist. Because it sounds underwhelming and I'm going to make it awesome...ly less underwhelming.

All our tombstones will read,
They died together, killed by the first creature with spell resistance.
The illusionist tried to help, but the constructs just kept coming.
And, Tarondor, if you ever run a converted Emerald Spire in 2e because you think Abomination Vaults is too easy let me know.

I just got my Amazon copy of Abomination Vaults today, but now I cant read it because I want to be surprised. I skimmed your 2e wizard guide, and it is amazingly detailed. It is missing the section on how to optimize the five wizard party.

Thank you for accepting my application, GM. I am currently at a non-TTRPG convention until Sunday so I will not be much available for Discussion before the game starts during that period. In the meantime, I will begin building a character(s) for the group.

Okay, well, if this is the plan now, I'll be the necromancer.

*rubs hands greedily with an Emperor Palpatine look within his yes, nodding slowly while hissing* "Yessss... give in to the dark side..."

You all I am so excited for this. Even if we all die, I can say I got to "Pretend" to be a Wizard Bard with AoE Buff "song" and rogue disarm traps to match! Let's do this!

Rule of Cool always wins :P

And, Tarondor, if you ever run a converted Emerald Spire in 2e because you think Abomination Vaults is too easy let me know.

Ahem.

GM Tarondor's Emerald Spire Campaign.

Swing on by. We lose players all the time so we're constantly in need of new ones! Turns out a multi-year 16-level dungeon isn't to everyone's taste.

Wow if Lillika stays away, hit me up. I got pretty far through Age of Worms on these boards.

Meet Kenoryth. "Keno" to his friends.

He enjoys long walks on the beach, learning new spells and hiding in the back.

Hi all, well wizard is my go-to character class, so why not join the fun. I think I'll go with a universalist with a penchant for summoning.

Thanks GM Watery Soup for the invite!

Gurnevan Harshwind has dedicated himself to the study of life and death, like his father before him. The Harshwind clan are scarcely tolerated in Galizhur, so they live on its Eastern fringe, less than a day's walk (on a dwarf's feet) to the human town of Otari.

Borrowing a little from squid games and Trading Places:
Request this be in the campaign description

The master wizards gathered in their ivory tower again this year, one generalist and representatives of multiple specialty schools. The argument was about which school was most effective when it came to adventuring. "Do you each have your respective candidates, chosen by whim and fiat like last year?", the oldest wizard said.

"Why yes, I may have picked one I actually like this time to represent my school. Not the dullard that kept sleeping in my classroom like last year."

"OK, it is settled. The first candidate in the group to be killed or do something so stupid his guildmaster has to grab him by the ear and take him out of the group picks up the tab next time."

One of the wizards pays for the gourmet feast as the magical catering company cleans up the dishes and presents him with the tab.
I hope my guy doesn't screw up this year again.

Who knows, the joke could be on them and the all wizard adventuring party could actually succeed this time. The fact that they are put together to settle who pays the next dinner tab is not widely cirulated, as it could decrease the morale of the "special" wizards "handpicked" by their guild.

"Get out your scrying devices, this should once again be amusing!! You all gave your candidate the magic headband we tell them to never take off so we can home right in on them"

One of the wizards laughed "That is the funniest part of this experiment. No one ever takes off the magic headband."

Another said: "Otari this time, this should be different."

I've never seen Squid Games nor Trading Places, so I don't get the references. I'm happy to put it in the campaign description if everyone agrees, but to be clear, I don't think everyone has agreed on the all-wizard party (Frozen Frost still needs to check in) so I don't want to pressure Frost, or anyone else, to accept the narrative.

Maybe we can be almost all wizards.

It is a terrible narrative, to be fair. But c'mon! This is awesome!

I am good with an all-wizard party. What schools are already taken and what is left?

Allow me to introduce Khaldan al Tephu, newly minted pathfinder, recently of Tephu, Osirion

I went with conjurer rather than universalist in the end

Dailyn Syrah is Abjuration, with a heavy fantasy twist on an "Indiana Jones" vibe.

When your characters are ready, make a post in Gameplay introducing yourselves.

If you need help building a character, let me know here in Discussion and we can work together.

Dailyn - Abjuration
Khaldan - Conjuration
Kenoryth - Illusion
Fibek - Divination
Gurnevan - Necromancy

So far, we have those wizards. I will bring a transmutation wizard then.

I will play with this character for this game.

GM Watery Soup, I think I have the character build right but wouldn't mind a review please as this is my first PF2 character.

Also, recommendations for the slash line seems to vary a bit. Do you have a preferred format or contents?

Your character looks fine to me. I can't find anything mechanically wrong (like missing/extra feats), and it looks like you've built it using Pathbuilder or Herolab, so it should have prompted you for everything.

A few finer details:

- I noticed you have 10 STR, 10 DEX. I probably wouldn't recommend this if this is your first character. There are two reasons.
-- First, at some point, every character gets Grabbed. I recommend every character either have a decent Acrobatics or Athletics (Trained plus a nonzero modifier).
-- Second, AC 13 is quite low. Not only will you get hit a lot (a monster with a +7 attack will hit on a nat 6+), but you'll get crit a lot (nat 16+). Without any hard numbers to back it up, I think 14 DEX / 10 CON is going to keep you up more than 10 DEX / 14 CON.

- I usually try to have two offensive cantrips, in case monsters are resistant to the energy type of my favored one. It might be okay if you all coordinate to make sure between all of you, to make sure someone has every type.

- I noticed you bought an alchemist's fire, which is a martial weapon in PF2 - you'll be untrained in using it, meaning you'll be attacking with a +0. Yes, splash damage is dealt on misses, but not crit misses, and with a +0, you may be crit missing a lot. You're probably better off buying a cantrip deck of acid splash, to deal with swarms, than alchemist's fire.

Five PCs have checked into Gameplay. Braenel and Tarondor, I've removed your main aliases from the character list to keep things clean.

Newbonomicon, how are things going?

Thanks for the suggestions, I've made him a bit more robust now.

FYI, I will be away tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday (UTC +8), for a company summer outing (yey!), so I will not be able to post for this game. I might be able to post on Sunday evening when I get home if I am not yet tired, but I can't promise to do that so the sure day I can update for the game is on Monday. But since the game will formally start Monday, I don't think this is relevant, but you know, just in case. :)

You each start with 1 Hero Point. Does anyone have GM glyphs for extra Hero Points?

Please fill out the Perception and Initiative modifiers on Slide 2. Also, arrange yourselves in default marching order. (I put you in alphabetical order.)

I have one GM glyph to share.

The Slide as of writing requires access permission.

Edit permissions granted.

Gurnevan, can you put some information in a tagline for easy reference (go to your character page and click "Edit Profile"? AC, HP, saves, and pronouns are information that I reference a lot.

Taong, who is the extra Hero Point going to?

Oh, my bad, I had the tagline written out but put in the wrong spot.

Glyph to Khaldan.

I will be unavailable again on Saturday and Sunday. I will try to post when I get the chance since I will be on mobile only on those days. Else, please bot me when necessary.

There are many checks in PF2 that are meant to be Secret. They usually have the Secret tag.

However, in the context of play-by-post, I find it really slows down the game to be asking who wants to make a check, and then to make it, and then for players to react. Also, in general, I feel like players don't get to roll enough in PF2, so I want players to have as many opportunities to roll themselves.

To balance the competing needs, what I do is that I allow the players to make open checks sometimes when secret checks are technically required, depending on the necessity for secrecy.

Highest Secrecy: I pull the modifier from your character's sheet, and make the roll. Players neither know the check has been made, nor what the result was. I use this very sparingly, very often 0 times in a standard length PFS scenario.

Standard Secrecy: I ask who wants to make a check, and what the modifiers are. Players are aware the check has been made, but not what the results were. This is the slowest option on PbP, and I'll use it occasionally, only when it's a scenario-altering decision.

Open Secrecy: I ask who wants to make a check, and ask players to roll in the open. Players are free to use Hero Points to reroll as they see fit. I frequently use this.

Low Secrecy: I just spoiler the result and trust players to refrain from clicking on the result until they've rolled appropriately. This is the fastest option on PbP, and I frequently use this.

Did we want to discuss resting for 10 minutes to recover any focus points/patch up any health? I think one of us did in fact take damage but it may not be of concern.

As for Secret rolls this is how I typically run things with my PF1e games and am all in.

Gurnevan took 2 hp damage in the fight, and another 5 falling down the cliff.

At first level, there aren't many ways to automatically heal without consuming something, so someone will likely need to roll, or use consumables.